The present invention pertains to a mechanism that permits selective longitudinal movement between a vehicle body and the vehicle suspension. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a slider mechanism wherein the vehicle suspension may selectively be placed in a locked condition with respect to the vehicle body and an unlocked condition wherein the vehicle suspension is longitudinally movable with respect to the vehicle body.
Early on devices have been utilized with trailer frames to provide for the ability to adjust the position between a main frame and an auxiliary frame. U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,272 to De Lay and U.S. Pat. No. 2,935,332 to De Lay are exemplary of these devices.
In the past, a slider assembly has also been used to provide for the selective adjustment of the relative position of the vehicle body and the vehicle suspension. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,566 to Baxter et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,578 to Baxter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,171 to Chetley, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,079 to Vornberger et al. each disclose a slider assembly that uses locking pins to provide selective engagement between the vehicle suspension and the vehicle body.
Other patents show various arrangements that provide for the adjustment of structural components of the trailer assembly so as to be able to balance or compensate for the load carried by the trailer. These patents include U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,000 to Holzman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,211 to Ginsburg, U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,946 to Hutchens, U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,797 to Mekosh Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,565 to Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,296 to Forman, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,732 to Lands et al. Still other patents show a connection between an assembly that provides for the selective adjustment of the relative position of the vehicle body and the vehicle suspension and a safety device. Exemplary patents are U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,347 to Hulse and U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,201 to Wessels.
While the above arrangements operate to selectively slide and attach a vehicle body and vehicle suspension, there remains a desire to provide an improved slider arrangement that selectively connects the vehicle body and the vehicle suspension and which is effective, easy to operate and yet relatively inexpensive to manufacture.